My son's back yard is covered in them. Pest control people have not been able to locate any nests and his four kids cannot go into the yard for fear of stings.

Everything I have read about elimination leads to finding the nest. Any ideas about how to deal with them if the nest cannot be found? Traps are out and working so far, but there are a lot still buzzing around.

Thanks,

RMD

After some investigation is appears that these may well be ground bees instead of the Devil's spawn Yellow Jacket. Investigation continues. thanks for the sympathy.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rduckwor,

You might need to suit up for sting protection and find their nest. Yellow jackets are ground dwellers. They will have a hole somewhere.

This is high time of the year for them, lots around here too. We have apples & pears, which attracts them when they are ripe.

I have at least a few 'bee holes' out that I know about. I'll get to them on a cool morning.

If these wasps live locally, you should be able to find a nest, by observing. If they are just passing by, I'd leave them alone.

They are very common in my area. Their sting really wrecks havoc on me, more than any other stinging insect sans Bell Hornets.

When you find the hole where their nest is, AT NIGHT! , stick a plastic pop bottle filled with gas into that entrance hole.

Natually, pouring gas in that hole during the day is useless, as they sre out gathering food..and stinging us SOB's!

Track them down and kill them with extreme prejudice.

I got stung 15 times at once last week. 6 on my head/face.

Not a fan of the bastards.

BIFEN.

Go to some nearby chemical distubutor and get thee a gallon....I buy mine at Southern States... I mix it twice the strength for wasps...

Nuke it from orbit

or you can get some 30% permethrin and wear them out too....it's a nerve agent and they will fall to the ground stinging the earth before they die kinda stuff....it's good stuff!!

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:
My son's back yard is covered in them. Pest control people have not been able to locate any nests and his four kids cannot go into the yard for fear of stings.

Everything I have read about elimination leads to finding the nest. Any ideas about how to deal with them if the nest cannot be found? Traps are out and working so far, but there are a lot still buzzing around.

Thanks,

RMD

They are typically ground dwelling but be sure that they will nest just about anywhere they can. Maybe check the eaves of the roof, tree stumps, under loose siding, and woodpiles too. The problem may not be his yard if he has neighbors. These things don't view property boundaries the way we do Good luck to your son.

As someone said, just sit and watch. They spend a lot of time running back and forth to their hive right about now.
Pretty soon you'll see a pattern of traffic and that will lead you to the hive.

I've had yellow jackets in my yards for years, and typically, for me, they build the hive under the eaves of my roof.
This year they got under the flashing and we had to call a pro in. We also have some very tempting flowers in our yard, a purple parsnip, that draws them like mad in the fall. They just get more aggressive as fall wears on, so it's best to sit and watch so you can find and eradicate that nest soon.. good luck.

I find nests everywhere, the eaves of my well shack, my house, I got tagged when I was looking at the manure in my trailer. They built a nest under the lip.

Last week I lifted the top on my 250 gal propane tank to check fuel and found a very large nest, I backed away before I got nailed.

If you have nests in the ground run a lawn tractor over your yard, that's how I found mine.

If you can be around the yard at sunset you might see them returning to their nests.

Eradication is best done at night when they're all cozed up for the night.

This is what I use to kill nests when I find them. It sprays a good eight feet.
wasp killer

I usually find their nests while I'm riding the mower. Mark the spot. Wait till dark. Come back pour some gas or kerosene in there and light it!

quote:

Originally posted by Neel:
If you have nests in the ground run a lawn tractor over your yard, that's how I found mine.

Neel is correct. I found the last three yellow jacket nests by running over them with my
48" Exmark walk-behind mower. Good times.... I had to get a shot after the last two, I may
have had to get a shot after all three (don't remember.....I think yellow jacket stings cause
memory loss.... )

I was weed whipping last year, late Summer. As I was near a tree I got stung twice all of a sudden. All I could do was set the whipper down & RUN.

After things settled I came back to check, there was a very active 'bee hole' next to the tree. It had been covered by the medium height grass.

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
As someone said, just sit and watch. They spend a lot of time running back and forth to their hive right about now.
Pretty soon you'll see a pattern of traffic and that will lead you to the hive.

I've had yellow jackets in my yards for years, and typically, for me, they build the hive under the eaves of my roof.
This year they got under the flashing and we had to call a pro in. We also have some very tempting flowers in our yard, a purple parsnip, that draws them like mad in the fall. They just get more aggressive as fall wears on, so it's best to sit and watch so you can find and eradicate that nest soon.. good luck.

Yes if you watch in early morning you can see them come to the flowers. We see their nests under logs, at the base of trees, in bushes, inside tubes on farm equipment, etc. In the winter the armadillos find and dig up the nests to get the larvae. I am always impressed with the number and the size of the remains of some of the nests they have dug up

quote:

My son's back yard is covered in them. Pest control people have not been able to locate any nests and his four kids cannot go into the yard for fear of stings.

Everything I have read about elimination leads to finding the nest. Any ideas about how to deal with them if the nest cannot be found? Traps are out and working so far, but there are a lot still buzzing around.

The easiest way to find the nest is to go out right about sunset (whenever the outside air starts cooling) and watch where the the YJ's are starting to congregate. As it gets cooler, it begans to look like the Atlanta airport with only a couple of runways to land on. Once you find the hole in the ground (or tree or wherever), pitch a white rag close to it and come back after dark, with their go-to-sleep cocktail of gasoline.

Move.

This article is part of our Organic Pest Control Series, which includes articles on attracting beneficial insects, controlling specific garden pests, and using organic pesticides.

The Yellow Jacket Wasp (Vespidae)
Yellow jacket wasps make irritating company at summer picnics, but they are extremely welcome visitors in the garden. These bright yellow-and-black striped wasps are slick and slender compared with honeybees, and are more likely to be found hunting among foliage than visiting flowers during the first half of summer. The food demands of growing yellow jacket colonies are so great that it has been estimated that more than 2 pounds of insects may be removed from a 2,000-square-foot garden by yellow jackets.

The benefits of yellow jackets come at a cost, because yellow jackets become dangerously aggressive when their nest is threatened. Nests are easiest to locate on warm summer mornings or evenings by carefully scanning the landscape for insects shooting up out of the ground. After you have located yellow jacket nests, decide whether they will stay or go. To neutralize a nest without using pesticides, cover the entry hole with a large translucent bowl or other cover, held in place with a brick. Be sure to approach yellow jacket nests at night, when the yellow jackets are at rest. Use flags or other markers to mark the locations of nests in acceptable places. Yellow jackets typically build new nests each year. Sometimes new yellow jacket nests appear in midsummer after old ones are damaged by foxes or other predators.

What Do Yellow Jackets Eat?
Yellow jackets wasps feed their young liquefied insects, with caterpillars, flies and spiders comprising the largest food groups in the yellow jacket diet during most of the summer. In late summer, yellow jackets start looking for flower nectar and other sources of sugar, which are necessary nutrients for the next season’s queens. Meanwhile, fewer young are being raised in the nests, which leaves many individuals with little to do. At this point yellow jackets become an obnoxious presence outdoors, whether they are trying to steal your sandwich or swarming over apple cores in your compost.

Simply allowing selected nests to remain in place is all you must do to receive free pest control service from yellow jackets. Coexisting peacefully with yellow jackets is another issue, especially if you grow tree fruits. Yellow jackets eagerly feed on fallen apples, pears and other fruits, so wear a light glove when cleaning up the orchard. Bury fruit waste beneath 2 inches of soil, or establish a fruit waste compost pile far from your house, where the yellow jackets can eat their fill.

You can use passive traps made from soda bottles to trap yellow jackets lurking on your deck or patio starting in early fall, should they be a problem. Most of these individuals will die of natural causes before the beginning of winter, so you have little to lose by trapping them.

link

quote:

The benefits of yellow jackets come at a cost, because yellow jackets become dangerously aggressive when their nest is threatened. Nests are easiest to locate on warm summer mornings or evenings by carefully scanning the landscape for insects shooting up out of the ground. After you have located yellow jacket nests, decide whether they will stay or go. To neutralize a nest without using pesticides, cover the entry hole with a large translucent bowl or other cover, held in place with a brick. Be sure to approach yellow jacket nests at night, when the yellow jackets are at rest. Use flags or other markers to mark the locations of nests in acceptable places. Yellow jackets typically build new nests each year. Sometimes new yellow jacket nests appear in midsummer after old ones are damaged by foxes or other predators.

This is exactly how I find them. The only thing I do differently, is use Spectricide foaming Yellow Jacket spray can (Home Depot).
Go out at night after dark and quietly approach the hole and spray directly into the hole. Wait 5-10 minutes and repeat. You will use at least 1/2 can or more on each nest. End of that nest.
Continue to look for more for a few days until you find the other nests and repeat.

About 2 months ago I noticed one in my backyard where the lawn ends and the brush starts. It was 4-5 feet away from the edge of the lawn. They weren't bothering us and the lawnmower didn't seem to agitate them, so I left it alone. Now, they are just gone.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
This is high time of the year for them, lots around here too. We have apples & pears, which attracts them when they are ripe.

I have at least a few 'bee holes' out that I know about. I'll get to them on a cool morning.

If these wasps live locally, you should be able to find a nest, by observing. If they are just passing by, I'd leave them alone.

I nave found that the best way to deal with them is to locate the holes (nests) and then pour some gasoline into the hole and light it off.

Some years ago I walked into one of them and got stung several times before I knew what was happening. Used the method above and got rid of that nest. Found another one about 50 yards away and did the same with it. Have not had a problem since.

Did have a couple problems with what we called paper wasps. But they were easy to handle. One of those bug bombs that sprays 15 feet, soak the nest real well and wait until they are all dead.

AIR, I waited until the next day to tear the nest down.